Social Media for Public Medical Education

To “Doctor” means “To Teach.”

Doctors teach patients about the health and about their medical conditions and treatment options. A patient who is well-informed about their condition can make better decisions about their healthcare.

There are many ways to teach people about their health.

The most traditional approach is for a physician to spend time with each individual patient, informing one patient at a time regarding his or her specific diagnosis.

But physicians also have some responsibility to society overall, beyond just the individual patients who come for in-person medical care.

Public and private physician groups regularly issue public statements regarding matters of public health.

Examples include medical professional groups such as pediatricians recommending childhood immunization programs, or a national cancer society recommending certain protocols for cancer screening programs.

Modern methods of communication such as the Internet allow physicians to provide information online for free use by the public.

This can include blogging, YouTube videos, social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Physicians are increasingly using the Internet to provide helpful information to society at large, providing benefit even to those who may never meet the physician in person.

In general, when people find medical information online, they should discuss this with their in-person treating physician, who can advise the person as to whether the information is correct and whether it is relevant to this individual person.

In the Link below, there is a video encouraging physicians to provide medical information online via Social Media.

The video is from Medscape.com, which is a well-regarded medical information site.

The speaker is Dr. Arthur L. Caplan, PhD. He is a Professor of Bioethics, in the Department of Population Health, at NYU (New York University) School of Medicine.

Medscape also Recommends that Doctors Use Social Media:

Source: Medscape, which is described as follows: “Medscape is the leading online global destination for physicians and healthcare professionals worldwide, offering the latest medical news and expert perspectives”